History Of Printmaking PDF

**HISTORY OF PRINTMAKING** Print making and printing-refer to the different processes by which words and visuals are prepared/transferred on to 2 dimensional surfaces, such as paper, fabric, plastic or board, metals walls and other suitable materials by pressing in, or in-laid. Lt is a way of desig...

**HISTORY OF PRINTMAKING** Print making and printing-refer to the different processes by which words and visuals are prepared/transferred on to 2 dimensional surfaces, such as paper, fabric, plastic or board, metals walls and other suitable materials by pressing in, or in-laid. Lt is a way of design making through the exertion of pressure from an inked surface of woodblock, lino blocks, engraved or metal plates or other suitable media which can mass produce copies. Printmaking is the process of creating [artworks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_of_art) by manually [printing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing), on surfaces which are most times flat (such as paper or clothes) and other large areas of personal items, such as plates or mugs, through ink transfer in a variety of techniques that allow duplication or mass production of designs. The media of printmaking includes metal plates, usually copper or zinc, or polymer plates and other thicker plastic sheets for [engraving](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engraving) or [etching](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etching); stone, aluminum, or polymer for [lithography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithography); blocks of wood for [woodcuts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodcut) and [wood engravings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_engraving); and linoleum for [linocuts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linocut). Screens made of silk or synthetic fabrics are used for the [screen printing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_printing) process. Rock engraving one of the oldest art media dating back to the inscriptions executed on stones, bones and cave walls during the prehistoric period, and cave walls. The duplication of engraved images started with the cuneiform symbolic writing of the Sumerians, Persian and Mesopotamian civilization on clay tablets around c 3000 BCE. Many sources also credited China as the origin of printing, dating printing on fabric (serigraphy or silk screen printing) there to 220 AD (during the Han Dynasty), while some artifacts dating sixth or seventh century BC to Egypt (https://www.plumplumcreations.com/the-history-of-printmaking-part-1/). Stone and bronze blocks ----------------------- Stone and bronze blocks have been used to print fabric, archaeological evidence of them have been unearthed at [Mawangdui](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mawangdui) and in the tomb of the King of [Nanyue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanyue) (in the east), while block printed fabrics have been discovered at Mashan zhuanchang in [Jiangling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiangling_County), [Hubei](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubei). In the 4th century the practice of creating paper rubbings of stone carvings such as calligraphic models and texts took hold. Among the earliest evidence of this is a stone inscription cut in mirror image from the early 6th century. (Hammurabi code- collection of laws and edits of the Babylonian king Hammurabi. ( It was the earliest legal code known in its entirety). Egyptians have prints depicting the lives of the people. **Woodblock printing (200 AD)** Woodblock printing (*diaoban yinshua*), was the first method of printing applied to a paper medium. The first known prints from woodblocks were Buddhist charms printed in [Japan](https://www.britannica.com/art/Japanese-art) between 764 and 770 ce. It is believed that the first wood-block prints on textiles were made by the Egyptians in the 6th or 7th century; but the earliest printed image is a scroll of the [*Diamond Sutra*](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Diamond-Sutra) (one of the discourses of the Buddha) printed by Wang Jie in 868 ce. It became widely used throughout [East Asia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asia) both as a method for printing on [textiles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile) and later on [paper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper), under the influence of [Buddhism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism). *[Ukiyo-e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukiyo-e),* the earliest surviving examples from [China](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China) date to about 220 (Encyclopedia Britannica). Most European uses of the technique on paper under the term [woodcut](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodcut). Although paper had been used in China since 105 AD,. the first European paper was made in Spain (1151), after which paper manufacturing began in France, Germany and Italy. The first [woodcuts](https://www.britannica.com/art/woodcut) on paper, were [playing cards](https://www.britannica.com/topic/playing-card) which were printed in quantity from1402. They were printed from woodblocks while the earliest dated woodcut in Europe was a "Madonna with Four Virgin Saints in a Garden" (1418). Printing from a metal engraving, came after the woodcut. The most popular European engravers were [Martin Schongauer](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Martin-Schongauer), [Albrecht Dürer](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Albrecht-Durer-German-artist) and William Hogarth. **Japanese coloured Ukiyo-e Print** Japanese artist of the Ukiyo-e school created first coloured woodblock print representing scenes of daily life in a style in graceful, flowing lines and precise detail. Over time Ukiyo-e prints became more colorful and highly patterned. Each color required a different woodblock. The Japanese coloured woodcuts became known in Europe in the19th century and greatly influenced the European printmaking and art. Major printmaking techniques were: woodcut techniques, engraving, etching (the use of acid bath), mezzotint, aquantint, screen printing, with the advent of industrial revolution of the 15^th^ c came the invention of printing press, hence mechanized printing. [printing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing)[and typography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typography) **The development of the movable type** (BY THE 1) beginning of pm using press **Wooden movable type** The movable type was invented in the [Northern Song dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Song_dynasty) around the year 1041 by [Bi-Sheng](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bi_Sheng). The development of the movable type started with the wooden type, but was discarded for the ceramic types (fired in [porcelain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porcelain)), due to the presence of wood grains and the unevenness of the wooden type after being soaked in ink. **Ceramic movable type** The ceramic type was unpopular as it did not hold the watery Chinese ink well, while the size of the type sometimes change during the baking (ceramic firing) process, resulting in uneven matching of the type. Further experiments yielded the metal movable type. **Metal movable type** Bronze movable types were used to print [banknotes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes) and official documents by both the Song and [Jin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_dynasty_(1115%E2%80%931234)). In 1234, cast metal movable type was used to print a 50-volume book titled: "*Prescribed Texts for Rites of the Past and Present"*, in Korea. It was also was used in China in the15th century, before was further advanced in [Germany](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany) by [Johannes Gutenberg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Gutenberg) in the mid-15th century. Printing methods based on Gutenberg\'s printing press spread rapidly throughout Europe at first [and then to the rest of the world](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spread_of_the_printing_press), replacing most block printing. This marked the beginning of modern movable type printing for mass reproduction. Johann Gutenberg is credited with being the father of modern printing having developed the movable type in 1445, with his 42 lines bible #### Rotary printing press In a rotary printing press, the impressions are carved around a cylinder so that the printing can be done on long continuous rolls of paper, [cardboard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paperboard), [plastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic), or a large number of other substrates. Rotary drum printing was invented by [Richard March Hoe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_March_Hoe) between 1843 -1847, and was further developed by [William Bullock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bullock_%28inventor%29) in 1863. [**Lithography**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithography) Lithography is a printing process that uses chemical processes to create an image for printing on a smooth surface, it was invented by [Aloys Senefelder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloys_Senefelder) in 1796. Its operation is based on the discovery that water and oil cannot mix. (i.e the theory the water and oil are unmixable). Numerous other printing mechanisms were introduced in the 20^th^ and 21^st^ centuries, which make mass production and dissemination of information fast and easy. Lithography was used in many aspects of Graphics Design, such as illustration, cartooning and poster designing. **Bibliography** The Encyclopedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition  Microsoft Encarta 2009.